Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-07-28
THE LAW INTERPRETED.
a Construction OF the Territorial
Local Option Enactment.

To the Press and D%akotaian: IF a
petition signed by one-third (15l of the
legal yotess of any county, as shown by
the preceding general el.ctiop, shall be
presented" go. Does this mean, as
construed by the county attorney and
commissioners, that only those whose
names appear on the poll books of the
last election or who voted at that cleo
tion have q right to petition for q vote
on the question of local option, or does
it mean that the petition must contain
the names Of the present legal voters
equal to one-third of the whole number
of votes cast at the last general election?
The latter appears to be the rational,
eommon-sense view of it. In fact this
conclusion is the more clearly forced up
on US by the fact that the construction
put upon the law by the commissioners
leads to an absurdity, or rather o series
of absurdities, as the wrong hypothesis
is always sure to do.
According to their construction of the
law the poll book of last election or the
affidavit of the petitioners that they
voted at that election, Is the only evil
denoe that can be reoeived by them to
show that these persons are legal voters.
The fact that these petitioners have lived
and paid taxes and voted here for years,
and are known to ali of the commission.
ers and everybody else to have been
voters here at that time, before and ever
since, aysils them nothing if they failed
to vote at that particular election. It
would appear from this that this poll
book is the one sure guide in this matter.
Bat undoubtedly on this pol list as on
almost every other, there are names of
some who. were illegal voters at the time
they voted. No matter; the poll book
is the guide.
r. Well, but here are the names of some
persons IN this particular poll book who
have since left the county and territory.
No matter. Yes it does matter. In this
case the county attorney and commits
sioners say the poll book is no guide.
To admit that these persons are entitled
to petition as voters even within this
construction of the law, involves SO
gross an absurdity that they reeoil from
the thought and say s'ln this case we
must 60 outside of poll book, and from
our own knowledge decide against them
for the law says legal voters" This
brings us back again to the question::
who are legal voters and how shall we
determine them? Only one ans wer can
be given by the advocates of this con-
struction of the law, towit: Evidence
that they voted at the last election. Thus
it appears that the poll book is the
evidence. To put it more plainly, if
persons name does not appear on the
last poll book, no matter how positive
the outside evidence may be that he
was a legal voter at the last election
Though he didn't vote) and has been
one aver since. his name cannot be
counted on the petition as q legal voter;
while on the other hand a PERSONS name
can be struck off the petition though il
be on the poll book, IN slight outside
eyidenoe that he is no longer q resident
of the county. II there ever was a twist
in the law or in the Interpretation of it
here appears to be one.
Petitions will undoubtedly be present
ed again in several counties next year
two years after the last election. During
this time many of the voters at the last
election will have died or moved out of
the county aud indeed under extraordln-
nary circumstances, such as a plague, the
one-third might not be left. In any
case the action of the people OF that time
viii depend upon the will of the resident
Survivors of thosa who voted two years
ago, equal in number to one-thlrd of all
those. who voted at hat time. Another
obstacle to this construction of the law
is that the poll book is notoriously de-
~fective. From one fifth to one-thIrd of
the names on the poll book disagree
with the signatures OF the voters. This
furnishes opportunity to those not favor
ably disposed for discsrding names or
requiring atfidaYits if they are received
Again, what if only one-third or less
OF the legal voters happened to turn
out and vote at the last election, not an
ticipating such q law as this, or what is
more likely to happen in Dakota. that
the present legal voters in any county,
through immigration and other causes
are more than three times the humble,
of those who voted at the last election
what then? Oan q state or territory
make laws which shall disinfranchise
their citizens or abridge their rights IL
this wholesale manner?
Now in view OF these facts which thit
construction of the Law compels US to
face, does any one pretend to believe
that the membern of the last Legislature
passed this law intending that it shoulc
have or believing it did have any such
meaning? Indeed what member OF thai
body perceiving the logical consequence!
Of this construction, though he may
have privately wished it SO, would hav,
the temerity to openly boast of it to hi
constituents?
This case is c%ertaiIlY very differen
from that of issuing bonds or levyinl
tax for a certain purpose where the petit
TONERS are required to be q certain por
ton of tax payers as shown by the as